Tuesday, December 08, 2015

Above is another vintage Charles Conlon photograph from the 1920 World Series at RMY Auctions. This time I feature a pic of Brooklyn Robins/Dodgers right fielder Tommy Griffith. He played seven season for us, slashing .285/.333/.394/.727 in Blue.

Earlier, Griffith had become a stock salesman. During the just-completed season, in fact, he had sold stocks while traveling with the team and had been doing well, reportedly making enough money to make the venture a “pleasant and profitable pastime.” (His decision to retire was also undoubtedly due to lingering resentment over his trade the previous year, as it was reported that “intimate friends say he is peeved because he was traded off the Cincinnati club.”) When Brooklyn opened spring training camp in Jacksonville, Florida, in March 1920, Griffith was a no-show. He wasn’t going to stay away for long, however. In 1920, after hovering around .500 for most of the first month, the team climbed into pennant contention and stayed there all season long. In May, manager Wilbert Robinson and team owner Charles Ebbets got Griffith’s new employer to guarantee that Griffith would not lose his chance for advancement or seniority if the ballplayer returned to the club. Griffith, who’d been playing with a local semipro team to stay in shape, agreed to come back. When he returned on May 27, Brooklyn’s record was 16-13. Over the remainder of the season the team played .616 ball (77-48) and finished with a record of 93-61, to win the National League flag.

It's funny to think that he chose working 9-5 over Baseball, but such was the time. Ballplayers didn't make as much as other professions (let alone what they make today), and if other opportunities arose it was likely to make the professional game an afterthought.

Below are more links to check out:

I hate to lead with this. Via Tim Brown and Jeff Passan at Yahoo Sports: "Police report: Aroldis Chapman allegedly fired gunshots, 'choked' girlfriend in domestic incident." This is terrible - not only for the individuals involved in the incident described in the story, but also for us fans. I'll have my thoughts on the matter shortly. In the meantime, below is an excerpt:

The incident started, Chapman’s girlfriend told police, after she went
into a bathroom of Chapman’s 10,000-square-foot-plus house and “found
something in his phone that she did not like,” according to the report.
Chapman, his girlfriend told police, then took the phone from her, the
report said. They went to the movie theater inside of Chapman’s home,
where “he had pushed her against the wall,” according to the report, and
“that Chapman had ‘choked’ her by placing his hands around her neck,
but did not prevent her from breathing at any time.” Police did not
observe “injuries or even redness anywhere on her neck or chest,” the
report said.

Scavuzzo hit .377/.389/.623 with four home runs and five doubles in 16 games, and ranked third in slugging percentage and at-bats per home run (17.25), mostly playing left field but also seeing time at first base. Scavuzzo played in the AFL Fall Stars Game, and won the National League portion of the Bowman Hitting Challenge in the AFL on Oct. 17.

Busy. Busy! The Dodgers added a couple more players for their minor league teams. First they Danny Reynolds from the Angels. Then claimed outfielder Daniel Fields from the Brewers. Via a Dodgers press release:

Danny Reynolds, 24, went 2-3 with 10 saves and a 4.57 ERA in 43 relief appearances last year for the Angels’ Double-A Arkansas, limiting opposing hitters to a .213 batting average with 50 strikeouts in 43.1 innings. A 2014 Double-A Texas League All-Star, Reynolds has a 22-23 career record with 21 saves and a 4.39 ERA in 152 games (42 starts) in six minor league seasons after being selected by the Angels in the sixth round of the 2009 First-Year Player Draft.

Daniel Fields, 24, made his Major League debut last year for the Tigers, going 1-for-3 in his only big league game on June 4 against the Athletics, and has a .244 batting average with 86 stolen bases, 42 home runs and 260 RBI in 649 minor league games in six minor league seasons in the Detroit organization. In addition to seeing his first big league action last season, he appeared in 122 games for the Tigers’ Triple-A Toledo, batting .228 with 17 steals, seven home runs and 41 RBI prior to being claimed by the Brewers on Sept. 10. During the course of his minor league career, Fields has primarily appeared in center field (570 games), while also playing 53 games in left field.

BTW, AJ Ellis had a great reaction to the Aroldis Chapman trade on twitter. Given what we know know, it's not so funny... Well, it's still a little funny. Check it out below:

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“There’s nothing like wearing a Dodger jersey. There’s nothing like it in sports. I don’t care that I’ve never been anywhere else. I don’t care. There’s nothing like wearing a Dodger jersey.” -- A.J. Ellis